Wolfe's Neck State Park

This weekend Gabe had BOTH days off which happens very infrequently.  We spent Sunday in Freeport exploring Wolfe's Neck State Park.  It was absolutely beautiful, we all got out on a hike and got to do some exploring at the beach.

Benjamin at 2 Months!

                               
                                  Benjamin                                                                    James

All right, Benjamin is a big guy.  At 6 weeks I had to switch him to the 6 month clothes and I thought it was a growth spurt... Today, at 2 months, I had to move to the 9 month clothes...  Just how big is he??  We are holding a pool and will find out next week at his check-up;) In the meantime I have a picture to compare James and Benjamin at the same age just for reference.  All of the boys have been big babies, but I think that Benjamin wins the prize, he has an abundance of cute baby fat rolls, but is also long AND super cute!!  He continues to be such a good baby!!  What a change from Noah and James at this stage.  He rarely cries, sleeps in the car and lets me put him down occasionally (which is good because he is so heavy). He smiles all of the time and is starting to coo and he tries hard to "talk" to Noah and James.  Noah and James continue to adore him and when one is doing something they shouldn't around him the other one (almost) always tells the other to stop (James's new favorite phrase is "Stop Noah, Stop".  James has really come around to having Ben here and constantly asks "Where's Ben" when he isn't in the room. Listening to James talk to Ben is so funny because he uses this quiet, sweet voice to talk to him- "Hi Ben, Hi Ben, Hi Ben! What you doing Ben?" or my favorite "You're so cute, so cute Ben". We are so fortunate to have 3 great boys and it makes my heart melt at each of these moments... there are plenty of unpleasant screaming/fighting/biting/hitting moments too (more than I would like to admit), but the sweet times certainly it worthwhile:)

Halloween 2011

Both Noah and James were very excited for Halloween this year and were so much fun!  Noah wanted to be a "spaceman" not an astronaut, but a spaceman... he was a bit offended when people would ask if he was an astronaut... he didn't seem to get that that was the same thing... oh well:)  James was a rooster and had been practicing sounding like one... when it came time to wear the costume he started telling people that he was a baby rooster, who knows where that came from.  Benjamin was a cute little pea pod.  I did not make his costume largely because I couldn't find a pattern for what I had in mind, but I found this costume at a yard sale for cheap AND it was exactly what I envisioned... I am still feeling guilty about not making his first costume... hopefully he won't hold it against me as one of those terrible things I do to him being the 3rd child... at least I didn't make him wear one of his brother's old costumes;)  I have largely given up trying to get a good picture of the 3 of them together... maybe once Ben can sit up.  

Before we went out trick or treating Noah insisted on having a halloween party.... I think that he has watched "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" one too many times.  He was also feeling badly that he wasn't invited to a Halloween party (like Charlie Brown).  So, we made our own Halloween party and he was very happy, I think that he enjoyed it more than trick or treating.  We played pin the nose on the jack 'o lantern, tried to eat marshmallows and donuts without hands, and bobbing for apples (which I think is one of the grossest and most unsanitary party games, but it was just Noah and James, so I allowed it;)).

Everyone had a great time going trick or treating around our neighborhood.  Ben slept the whole time, so he was a good sport.  Noah finally got it this year to go up to each door, knock and say "trick or treat" with minimal prompting from us.  After the first 3 houses I brought Ben back home with me to hand out candy while Gabe took Noah and James around to a few more houses.  I guess I have never been the one to hand out candy before, but I was a little taken aback by the lack of parental supervision and manners of most of the kids.... I won't belabor the point, but I think that it is important to say thank you and not try to grab the entire bowl full of candy when someone is handing it out to you, or asking for more, or a different kind because "I don't like that one".  ANYHOW, it was a very fun night!

** You may also notice that in the bottom pictures James's left ear it sticking out... it is this thing he is does... he insists that his ears stick out when wearing a hat.  It has gotten to the point now that he actually holds his ears out while I put his hat on.  He threw a pretty big fit  when he realized that his costume didn't allow for his ears to easily stick out, but this is the compromise he found.

Winter Arrives in October

So over the course of a week we went from playing in the leaves with sweaters on to playing in the snow with full winter gear.  We got only about 3 inches of snow, but it was just enough to play in and cause us to lose power for a day.  One of the pros of losing power every time we have a storm (there aren't many) is that the kids are learning a lot about electricity and what we can and can't use when there is no power;)  Gabe was working over night until noon the next day when we lost power.  But it makes me feel accomplished when I can get the generator started on my own (it wasn't pretty and it took longer than it should have, but I did it)... it helps that Noah and James cheer when the lights come back on;)

Also, last week I had my first "oh my goodness I am living with 4 boys" moment... I am sure it will be one of many, but this one felt significant... it had to do with the bathroom.  If I can be fully candid, I have been discouraging Noah from standing to pee since he started potty training.  I knew that it was just a matter of time before he realized that it is way faster and cooler to pee standing, but I was hoping that he would be old enough to clean the bathroom himself.  It is not that I am against the whole standing to pee thing, but I am against the mess that it makes, especially when you are little without great aim.  Anyhow, he has started standing to pee and he seems to have good aim since I haven't noticed any odors from missed marks, but now boy bathroom issue #2... I walked in to use the bathroom the other day and the toilet seat was up.  I realized that this is not a big deal and many of you are probably rolling your eyes, but I immediately had flashes of what it may be like living with 4 boys in a few years..... All I could think of was some dirty bachelor pad where I spend all of my time cleaning up after them. So, I feel like I have to be firm about the toilet seat down issue before they realized that I am severely out numbered here;) I wonder what else I may have to compromise on/adjust to over the next few years living with all boys... Growing up there was almost always a female majority where ever we went, so this is all new territory for me... I also have to say that this made me have a little more sympathy for my dad since I am sure he had many of these moments living with all girls...

"P" Day

Since being home I have had a cool opportunity to do some preschool things with both Noah and James.  One thing we have started recently is having a letter or number of the day.  Throughout the day we pick foods that start with that letter, go on letter scavenger hunts to find things that start with the letter, and read books and labels to find the letter. The kids have really gotten on board and a pretty excited to participate. Our most recent letter was "P".  We had peanut butter toast for breakfast, popcorn for snack, pumpkin pancakes for lunch, and made pretzels.  Both Noah and James loved to make the pretzels and learn about that process, but it was a little too long for James's interest, so I have a picture of Noah alone with the pretzels before they went into the oven.  A few days ago we walked over to the library.  For the first time Noah walked the whole way and Ben had his first ride in the stroller... he slept the whole way and James was very tolerant of sharing the stroller with Ben. Thanks to cousin Trey for lending Benjamin his warm fleece coverall... it was cold!  

After soccer finished Noah started basketball.  He definitely has some practicing to do, but given that he has never played before his is not doing badly.  It is so fun to watch him try to dribble and shoot the ball.  We have actually seen quite a bit of improvement from the first to the second week.  He is getting pretty good at the bounce pass... so is James;)